


Badly Timed Epiphany

by AugustStories



Series: Seblaine Happy End [9]
Category: Glee
Genre: Brotherhood, Epiphanies, Falling In Love, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, warblers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 02:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17275280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AugustStories/pseuds/AugustStories
Summary: Sebastian Smythe didn't do relationships or love.Until an epiphany knocks him off his feet at the worst moment possible.This belongs to "I'm Coming Home"





	Badly Timed Epiphany

**Author's Note:**

> Another prequel to "I'm Coming Home"

"I'm in love with him."

 

Five words. Five simple words. Quietly spoken, and they still threw the world out of its axis. And the lacrosse equipment in Rob's and Thad's hands crashed to the ground.

 

Sebastian blinked, once, and then again, standing unmoving in the middle of the gym.

"Oh my god, I'm in love with Blaine." He whispered and his voice still echoed from the walls of the gym, mocking him, his head slamming the words back on his mind again and again. Sebastian felt the ground under his feet suddenly turning into jello, felt his knees just refuse to really hold him up any longer.

 

Weak in the knees. When had that ever happened?

 

Over a boy?

 

Never. It had never happened.

 

Thowing a desperate look to the right, he opened his lips but at first only some high pitched noise came tumbling out before they managed to form actual words, "Thad....I....help..." And Thad was jumping over the mess he had made out of lacrosse sticks and had him pushed onto a bench in no time. Rob was staring wide eyed.

 

"Wow, dude, your timing..." Thad breathed out, falling to his knees in front of Sebastian, clasping suddenly shaking hands, "Seb..." And green eyes looked at Thad, helpless, not knowing what to do anymore, is this what a panic attack felt like?

 

Epiphanies sucked.

 

"Seb, Regionals are **tomorrow**." Thad reminded him of something that yes, Sebastian was very very much aware of, but as much as he wanted to glare, Sebastian could only blink, best deer in headlights impression ever. Sage would be proud, and then freaked out without any limits, because his brother was never the deer, because Sebastian was always the headlights.

 

And fucking hell, his brain was melting.

 

"I'm...I'm gonna tidy up." Rob stuttered and then nodded to himself before rushing to put their equipment back into the right shelves. Sebastian kept his eyes on Thad's calm face and tried to not freak out any more than he already was, he didn't do feelings anymore, he had never wanted to fall in love again in his life ever.

 

Once burned, forever burned.

 

\--

 

Half an hour later, Thad and Rob had somehow managed to drag, shove or guide him up into the dorms and onto his bed, where Sebastian proceeded to turn his life into every stereotypical teenage life ever. Except that he switched out ice cream with chocolate and cookies, but still buried himself into a blanket burrito tent and glowered at everything and everyone.

 

He didn't even want to get drunk, how pathetic was that.

 

"This is all your fault, you know?" And at Thad's words Rob snapped his head up as if he had been stung where he was sitting on the edge of his bed, mouth dropping open for the time it took his brain to realize he hadn't been making it up.

"My fault?" He snapped loudly, exasperation and confusion coloring his voice as he looked from Sebastian sulking under his blanket mountain over to Thad fiddling with the TV. "How is any of this my fault?"

 

"Sex on a stick and sings like a dream." Thad mocked right back in a voice that sounded more like a smurf on crack than like Rob from a few months ago. "You couldn't have used something else? Like maybe...oh I don't know...Oh Blaine Anderson? He was our lead soloist last year, he transferred schools now."

 

"It was a joke." Rob grouched and dropped down on his own bed, kicking the blanket off and pouting in a rather dramatic fashion into his pillow. "How am I supposed to know that this one takes it all fucking literal." One grumpy roommate glared at the other and neither saw how Thad rolled his eyes and finally settled on a baseball game.

"You two are certainly making this country's teenage girls very proud right now." Thad said with a huffing undertone

 

"Oh fuck off, Mom." Rob turned around on his bed again, "Seb, we need to talk about this, because eating your body weight in cookies is not gonna solve anything, it will just end with you puking out your guts at two am and me stroking your back and wondering how we're gonna explain another breakdown to your little brother." Thad hissed at Rob for that low blow but Sebastian actually appreciated the stupid babbling, at least Rob didn't let himself freak out over this.

 

"Thad, it's okay." He said before Thad could start on another one of his rants, pulling back some of his blankets, Sebastian waited until Thad got the message and sat down next to him, taking the box of cookies away from him and stuffing one into his own mouth. Sebastian had no idea how he deserved friends like this, keeping calm for him and offering a strong shoulder to hold onto while they were freaking out over his confession as well. "Well, frankly, nothing is okay, and I am really really close to losing my mind right now. And what am I gonna do?"

 

"You're gonna lead us at Regionals." Rob said, reaching out a hand and switching on the fairy lights over his bed and the overhead light of the room off in the same gesture. Sebastian could basically feel the comment built itself up in Thad's throat and he slapped a hand against Thad's thigh, "Me time now. You want me to talk, Rob? Then I'm gonna talk."

 

And eat my damn body weight in chocolate, Sebastian added in his mind as he let his epiphany roll over his two best friends, and once that gate was opened, it all toppled out. Paris, Pierre, the party, the alleyway, his mother, his father taking Sage and him back home.

 

No one cried, there was no cheesy romance chick flick but sports games for the whole evening, and none of them really got as much sleep as they should have gotten the night before Regionals. But when Sebastian woke up in the middle of the night, stupid dreams and Blaine's stupid bright smile still in front of his inner eye, and all he saw was the soft light of Rob's stupid beautiful fairy lights illuminating the room, it felt a strange calm settle over him.

 

Rob snoring slightly in his bed, legs twisted in the blankets and still holding onto the chocolate bar that he had wrestled from Sebastian at some point. Thad passed out right next to him, having stolen his favourite pillow and hugging it to his chest like some priceless treasure. And Sebastian knew that he would get through this day because he wasn't alone.

 

\--

 

Well, pep talks only got you so far, though.

 

When you looked the enemy in the eye, it was everyone for himself again.

 

Sebastian took one step out of the bus, turned towards the school building and could feel every organ inside his body shrink into a tiny pebble, only his heart grew. And grew, and a grew. And started pounding and racing.

 

He looked from the school to the guys grabbing their bags and chatting and laughing, already moving to get into this stupid stupid school and Sebastian couldn't move. He couldn't do this, he couldn't even think about running into Blaine without feeling his head wanting to explode.

 

"I think I'm gonna be sick." He whispered and didn't realize that eyes had been watching him until Rob snapped up his head up right next to him and already had one hand at his elbow in the next second. Sebastian's head slipped into white noise, and fucking hell, why always him. Why was it always him who had these fucking epiphanies at the fucking worst moment? Why couldn't his life just fucking go normal?

 

Why did it always have to get more difficult?

 

"Seb? Can you hear me?" Rob was speaking and Sebastian was listening but he couldn't answer, he couldn't even look away from those fucking ugly doors. "Okay...Thad? Seb and I are gonna step out for a moment, can you get the others settled?" Thad probably answered but Seb couldn't hear him, couldn't hear anything anymore, the shrieking in his ears overlapped everything. Rob started pulling him forward and then maybe right or left, Sebastian just followed him blindly.

 

Soon enough, still way too long in Sebastian's tastes, Rob stopped them in some dark corner behind the entrance of McKinley High. The hand on Sebastian’s elbow moved over to his back and then pushed and prodded until Sebastian leaned forward, hands snapping out to keep his balance, finding a building wall to hold himself up against.

 

"Now, breathe, Seb. It's gonna be okay. You're not alone in this, you're not alone here." Words, words, so many fucking words, and Sebastian wanted to kick him to stop talking and he wanted to hug him to please not stop talking. He hadn't had fucking panic attacks in years, and suddenly he was slipping from one anxiety ridden nightmare into the next.

 

Bloody hell, this sucked.

 

And Blaine. Oh goood, Blaine was in that building, and Blaine would see him on stage and he would see Blaine on stage. And he was gonna throw up. And what if Blaine and him crossed paths and he didn't have the guys around and what if it was anyone else...

 

"Not gonna leave your side." Rob's voice snapped Sebastian out of his thoughts and he sighed, took a deep breath and straigthened up again, "Just go out there and give a good show, Seb." He continued and placed an arm around Sebastian's shoulders, drawing him in just a little bit. Here in this dark corner outside the school building, no one would be able to find them and Sebastian could slowly feel that itching panic attack, he had tried to keep under control so badly, slowly begin to calm down again.

 

"It's going to suck." Sebastian whispered and Rob snorted, tugging stronger on Sebastian's right shoulder until Sebastian stumbled against him, dropping his forehead against the smaller boy's shoulder.

 

"Then it's going to suck. At this point I don't even care anymore whether or not we're gonna win. We made it to Regionals, Seb, already a success for the Warblers. You led us here, so be proud of that." Rob reminded him quietly, one hand settling on the back of Sebastian's neck, the other one stroking up and down his arm. "I think this year showed us that there are more important things." And Rob looked up when he saw Thad rounding the corner again, water bottle and what looked like a coffee cup in his hands. "Like knowing that your friends are safe and healthy. That your brothers trust you and know that you'll support them through anything."

 

"And that they'll always be there for you as well." Thad took over without missing a beat, Sebastian drew back from Rob again and turned so he could look at both of them. "Come." Thad encouraged and held out the cup, "Drink. You'll feel better." Sebastian didn't look too convinced but still took the cup and took a sip, only to suddenly drain the cup with quick suddenly eager gulps. Rob raised an eyebrow at Thad who exchanged the cup with the water bottle when Sebastian was done.

 

"Espresso." Thad cleared up and Rob groaned, reaching up and dragging a hand down his face.

"It's past six, Thad, how the fuck am I supposed to get him to sleep tonight." Rob complained and Thad ignored him, turning left to throw away the coffee cup.

"Him is standing right here and is not a child." Sebastian grumbled and made a move to drop some water onto Rob, but dark eyes quickly dared him to move even another inch towards him.

 

"If it means he stops grouching and sulking for at least one evening, then I am gladly going take him from you for one night." Thad offered with a smile and Rob pointed at him.

"He'll be hyped up on adrenaline, the bloody espresso and either victory euphoria or second place frustration. Gimme your hand on this, Harwood, because I'm not going to let you go down on this." Rob demanded and Thad glared at him.

 

"Alright." Sebastian said loudly and stepped between them, one hand each raised towards one of his best friends, "Good to know you two are engaging in 'who is more worried about Seb', really does it for my ego. Still, dear neurotic people, can we please concentrate back on my neurosis right now?" Rob and Thad turned silent and both focused back on him, "Guys, what am I supposed to do?"

 

"Blow him away. Get on that stage and make that your best performance ever, give them the biggest fuck you imaginable." Rob offered up and Thad shook his head, pushed Rob to the side and reached up to turn Sebastian's face down to him.

 

"What the idiot is trying to say...Seb, you can do this. Don't let these people, don't let Blaine drag you down from something that you worked so hard for. You glued us back together again, we're here because you made us stronger and you helped us get here so that we can give our best and have fun while doing so. You came up with the Trevor Foundation charity idea, they agreed to join. I can't promise you anything when it comes to Blaine, you know that, and we're gonna deal with that. Tomorrow, next week, next month. Step by step, just like we agreed on." Thad told him and then smiled, "Go on that stage, be surrounded by your brothers and for all it's worth, show Blaine what he is missing out on. This guy maybe slipped into your heart, but you are still Sebastian Smythe."

 

And just like on the day after hearing the news over Karofsky's suicide attempt, Sebastian felt his shoulders grow broader and himself growing taller again when Thad put all of his attention on him, one hand coming up to rest flat against Sebastian’s chest.

"And Sebastian Smythe earned it to be standing on that bloody stage tonight, to lead the Warblers to the best Regionals performance this godforsaken place has ever seen. We are better than them, and we're gonna show them that not even the universe's fucking badly timed epiphanies cannot beat us down. Are you with us, Seb?"

 

"Always." Sebastian replied quickly, his heart returning to its calm thudding inside his chest, his breaths slowing down again, "Are you with me?" He asked in return and Thad stepped back just enough so he could turn his hand down in the space between them, Rob stepped closer again and waited until Sebastian had laid his on top of Thad's before covering it quickly.

 

"Always." They echoed back at him.

 

\--

 

They lost.

 

They only got second place but for Sebastian, and most of the other guys as well, it still felt like a victory to be united again. The bus was still loud and cheerful on their way back to Dalton, and Sebastian didn't think about that short handshake with Blaine after the winners were announced, he was too busy laughing and trying not to shake Skylar awake again where the younger boy had nodded off against his side.

 

Winning wasn't everything. Cute boys and a good time, that surely wasn't everything either.

 

But these moments?

 

Thad and David laughing and leading the boys into some old Warbler cheer up song, Nick and Jeff doubled over in their giggles. Rob falling back into the row of seats right in front of him, tie up as a headband and his blazer suddenly gone, beginning to talk about some party to celebrate second place tomorrow, Trent jumping in excitedly from behind Sebastian.

 

Skylar groaning over their loud voices and turning his face into Sebastian's chest, their phones buzzing with new messages from Sage, including a very pouting selfie because Skylar wasn't answering his anymore.

 

This was home.

 

These were his friends, his brothers, and all the throphies and all the hook-ups in the world couldn't measure up to this.

 

Blaine Anderson was...perfect, and this aching feeling in his chest, it hurt, but Sebastian knew that it wasn't alone, that he had guys to lean onto now, and with their help, it would be okay.

 

Sebastian was happy.

 


End file.
